Support for paint rollers



July 14, 1964 i C. G. GARR ET AL SUPPORT FOR PAINT ROLLERS Filed Jan. 5,1962 5 R6 44 67/47/65 f g rr United States Patent 3,140,849 SUPPORT FORPAINT ROLLERS Charles G. Garr and Bernard A. Garr, both of 5326 Elmwood,Detroit, Mich. Filed Jan. 5, 1962, Ser. No. 164,513 1 Claim. (Cl.248-304) This invention relates to a support for removable paint rollermembers.

A paint roller assembly includes a tubular paint roller member which isremovable from the rolling mechanism of the roller assembly. The utilityof the removable roller member is not usually expended in a single use;thus, it is desirable to clean and/or otherwise maintain the used rollersuch that it may be reused. It is common practice that in storing theused rollers either before or after cleaning they are set on one end inan empty container such as a five or one gallon can. A disadvantage instoring rollers in this manner is that the excess paint and/or cleanerfrom the roller member drains to the bottom of the container and henceimmerses the bottom portion of the roller member. When the drained paintand/or cleaner dries, the immersed portion of the roller becomesencrusted with the hardened paint residue. This encrustation can resultin the loss of usefulness of those particular rollers. It is an objectof this invention therefore to provide a support for holding removablepaint rollers whereby drainage and drying of the paint roller member canoccur without encrustation of a portion of the roller member.

It is another object of this invention to provide a support which can beattached or clamped to a container or can for holding removable paintrollers, whereby drainage of the paint roller member can occur in thecontainer without encrustation of a portion of the roller member uponsubsequent drying.

It is desirable that such a support be capable of being suspended to ahook or a peg independent of the container or can such that aftercompletion of the drainage, the paint roller members can be convenientlystored on hooks or pegs via the support. Therefore, it is an object ofthis invention to provide a support for a paint roller member wherebythe roller member can be held either on a container or can for drainageor on a peg or hook for storage.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the subsequent description and the appended claim,taken in coniunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a pictorial view of one embodiment of a paint roller membersupport embodying the features of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view depicting the support of FIGURE 1 in relation to aremovable paint roller member shown partially broken away and partiallyin section and one type of container or can, only partially shown, witha portion thereof in section;

FIGURE 3 is a pictorial view of a modified support embodying thefeatures of this invention;

FIGURE 4 is a View showing the support of FIGURE 3 in relation to aremovable paint roller member and a dilferent type of container or can,only partially shown, with a portion thereof in section; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view of a part of the support shown in FIGURE4 taken in the direction of the arrow 5, with the container removed.

For the sake of convenience, in the following discussion the termsupwardly and downwardly will be taken to indicate vertical directions asviewed in the plane of the attached drawing; the term outwardly will betaken to indicate a horizontal direction from right to left as viewed inthe plane of the attached drawing, while the term inwardly will be takento indicate the corresponding horizontal direction taken from left toright.

Looking now to FIGURE 1, a paint roller member support is generallyindicated by the numeral 10 and is formed from a single piece of wirestock. The support 10 comprises a substantially straight stem portion 12being of a length greater than the length of a paint roller member andterminating at its lower extremity in an inwardly extending hook portion14 which has a width or opening greater than the wall thickness of theradial wall of a tubular paint roller member. The length of [the stemportion 12 is sufiiciently greater than the length of a paint rollermember such that the stem portion 12 can be inserted into the internaldiameter of the paint roller member and the roller member lifted overand into the hook portion 14 to assume a position as shown in FIG- URE2. From the upper extremity of the stem portion 12 an intermediateportion 16 extends outwardly and is of a length greater than thedistance equal to the outside diameter of the tubular paint rollermember less its wall thickness. A more convenient definition is that theintermediate portion 16 is of a length greater than the mean diameter ofthe tubular paint roller member. Connected to the outward extremity ofthe intermediate portion 16 is a clamp 18.

Looking now to FIG. 2, it can be seen that the stem portion 12 of thesupport member 10 is of a length to accommodate a paint roller member 20which is held at one end by the hook portion 14. Note also that theintermediate portion 16 is of a length sufiicient to maintain the paintroller member 20 out of contact with the side wall of an open containeror can. 22 onto Which the support member 10 is secured via the clamp 18.

The clamp means 18 is generally U-shaped and comprises a leg portion 24extending upwardly from the outward extremity of the intermediateportion 16 and another outwardly spaced leg portion 26 extendingdownwardly and being of a length greater than the leg portion 24. Thespacing between the leg portions 24 and 26 and hence the width of theclamp 18 is equal to the width of an annular lip 28 which extendsperipherally about the top of the container or can 22. The leg portion26 extends downwardly a length suflicient to engage an annular bead 30which extends radially outwardly from the side wall of the container 22.The width of the clamp 18 is slightly less than the distance between theinner surface of the wall of the can 22 and the outer extremity of theprotrusion or bead 30 such that the support 10 is securely clampedtherebetween by means of the resilient separation of the leg portions 26and 24 of the U-shaped clamp member 18.

The other leg portion 26 terminates at its downward extremity in aneyelet portion 32 (FIGURE 1) which facilitates the attachment of thesupport member 10 upon a peg or a hook. Thus it can be seen that in theembodiment just described, a paint roller member can be supported fordrainage and/or transportation in a can or container without the paintroller member being in the drainage at the bottom of the container andhence can be maintained such that the bottom portion of the roller willnot be encrusted. It can also be seen from the above description thatthe paint roller member, via the eyelet 32 of the support member 10, canbe secured to a hook or a peg and conveniently stored in an area otherthan the container or can.

In the above embodiment the container or can 22 has been assumed to be aconventional S-gallon can having a considerable depth. While commercialpainters are accustomed to utilizing such large sized cans, it would bemore practical and convenient for the individual home owner painter, andeven in some instances the commercial painter, to utilize a conventionall-gallon can. In a con- 3 ventional l-gallon paint can, with theembodiment as shown in FIGURES l and 2, the support member 10 and hencethe paint roller member 20 would abut against the bottom of the can.This difficulty can be overcome by the use of a modification of thesupport member 10 which is shown in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5.

Looking now in FIGURE 3, a support for a tubular paint roller member isgenerally designated by the numeral 40 and comprises an elongated stemportion 42 which terminates at its lower extremity in an outwardlyextending hook portion 44, which is of a width sufficient to accept thewall thickness of the radial wall of a paint roller member. The lengthof the stem portion 42 is greater than the length of a paint rollermember such as to facilitate the mounting of that member upon the hookportion 44 (FIGURE 4). The stem portion 42 has its upper extremityconnected to an outwardly extending intermediate portion 46, which is ofa length greater than the wall thickness of a tubular paint rollermember. The outward extremity of the intermediate portion 46 isconnected to one end of a downwardly extending connecting portion 48which has its opposite, lower end connected to a clamp 50.

Looking now to FIGURES 4 and 5, a paint roller support member 40 isshown having a tubular paint roller member 53 secured to the hookportion 44 and with the support member 40 secured to a container or can51 of the conventional l-gallon type via the clamp means 50. The lengthof the intermediate extending portion 46 is greater than the wallthickness of the radial wall of the paint roller member 53 in order thatthat member 53 can be held by the support 40 without its outside surfaceengaging either the container 51 or any portion of the support 44 Theclamp 50 comprises an outwardly extending U-shaped stop portion 52, oneleg ,o'f which is connected to the lower extremity of the connectingportion 48 and its other leg of which is con nected to a leg portion 54which extends upwardly therefrom a distance substantially less than theextension of the connecting portion 48 and is connected at its upperextremity. to an outwardly extending center portion 56 which in turn hasits opposite extremity connected to another leg portion 58 which extendsdownwardly therefrom. The center portion 56 is angled toward theconnecting portion 48 such that the other leg portion 58 is disposedmidway between the leg portion 54 and the connecting portion 48 (seeFIGURE The other leg portion 58 terminates at its lower end in an eyeletportion 60which facilitates mounting of the support member 40 on a pegor hook in a manner similar to that of the support member previouslydescribed.

Looking now to FIGURES 4 and 5, the leg portions 54 and 58 and thecenter portion 56 define a U-shaped structure in which the openingthereof or the length of the center portion 56 is substantially equal tothe width of an annular radially inwardly extending lip 62' whichextends peripherally about the top of the container or can 51. The legportion 58 is inclined slightly towards the U-shaped stop portion 52such that upon assembly of the other U-shaped structure defined byportions 54, 56 and 58 over the lip 62 of the container 51, the support40 is held to the container 51 by virtue of the resilient separation ofthe other leg portion 58 and the stop portion 52.

Note that in the embodiment shown in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, the sternportion 42 and the hook portion 44 are raised relative to the clamp 50by virtue of intermediate connecting means, i.e., portions 46 and 48,and specifically by the extension of the connecting portion 48. In thismanner a sufiicient portion of the paint roller member 53 is held abovethe clamp 50 to insure that the paint roller member 53 will not beimmersed in the drainage at the bottom of the container 51. Thus it canbe seen from the above description that the paint roller supportfulfills the objects of the invention previously stated.

It can be appreciated thatanother advantage of the paint roller supportof this invention, as exemplified by the supports 10 and 40, is thatwhen it is desired to suecessively use different colors, the paintrollers not in use can be conveniently stored in a container free fromcontamination from the different colored paint on other rollers. Thus asingle container can be used to store several paint roller members.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the inventiondisclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, itwill be appreciatedthat the invention is susceptible to modification,variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fairmeaning of the subjoined claim.

What is claimed is:

A one piece support of wire stock for supporting a tubular paint rollermember. in an open container having a side wall terminating at its upperend in a peripheral lip, said support comprising: a stem portion havinga length greater than the length of a paint roller member to besupported, a hook portion disposed at the lower extremity of said stemportion for engaging the wall at one end of the roller to be supported,clamp means comprising a U-shaped structure definedby a pair of spacedupwardly and downwardly extending leg portions and having an openingsufficient to overengage the peripheral lip of the container, a U-shapedstop member connected at one end to one of said leg portions of saidU-shaped structure and extending transversely toward the other of saidleg portions of said U-shaped structure, said one of said leg portionsbeing normally inclined toward said stop member to provide uponseparation a resilient clamp between the inside and outside surfaces ofthe wall of the container, a connecting portion having one end connectedto the other end of. said U-shaped stop member and extending upwardlytherefrom, and an intermediate portion having one end secured to theupper end of said stem portion and extending transversely in a directiongenerally opposite to said U-shaped stop member a distance at leastgreater than the wall thickness of the tubular paint roller member to besupported and having its opposite end connected to the upper extremityof said connecting portion.

References Cited in the file of this. patent UNITED STATES PATENTS.

471,989 Bush Mar. 29, 1892 1,213,685 Owens Jan. 23, 1917 2,773,274 Beach...4 Dec. 11, 1956 2,808,960 Wilson Oct. 8, 1957 2,956,765 Robinson Oct.18, 1960

